Means for washing venetian blinds



April 14, 1942. R. G. LONG ET AL MEANS FOR WASHING VENETIAN BLINDS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 3, 1938 m 0%! To 6 w H Y c NN N W 5 R 5 are w 0. MA M? wufi A MW Y e April 14, 1942. R. G. LONG ET AL 2,279,691

MEANS FOR WASHING VENETIAN BLINDS Original Filed Oct. 3, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 R/cw/wp azo/ve q? WALTE FRENCH W air szwfi" April 14, 1942. L ETAL 2,279,691

MEANS FOR WASHING VENETIAN BLINDS Original Filed Oct. s, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet s l/V YEN T0 RS five/MR0 G- owe P, WALTER 0. FRENCH W XM Patented Apr. 14, "1942- Y MEANS FOR wasnnvc VENETIAN BLINDS Richard G. Longand Walter D. French, Denver, 0010., assignors, by mesne assignments, to The Venetian Blind Laundry Manufacturing and Sales Corporation, Denver, 0010., a corporation of Colorado Original application October 3,1938, Serial. No.

233,042. Divided and this application November 20, 1939, Serial No. 305,348

Claims. (01'. 15-17) v This invention relates to an improved apparatus for washing Venetian blinds or the like. This application is a division of our application Serial No. 233,042, filed October 3, 1938, and issued May '7, 1940, as Patent No. 2,199,747, for Method and means for washing Venetian blinds.

As is well known, the so-called Venetian type blind is normally constructed of a plurality of rotatable and reversible slats that can be positioned in open spaced relationship or closed in overlapping contact. When these slats become soiled in use from dust, smoke, finger marks, and like foreign matter, it is a diflicult and tedious task to wash them by the usual hand method.

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for thoroughly washing such blinds, whereby an operator may use mechanical force to speed up and improve the quality of the work.

Another object is to provide means for automatically reversing the slats of a Venetian blind, during a washing process, so that all parts thereof will be thoroughly cleaned.

A further object is to provide such apparatus that can be very economically used for the stated objectives, because most of the cleaning fluids can be collected for reuse.

Still another object is to provide in such apparatus, means for rapidly drying the washed blinds.

Other objects and advantages reside in details of design and construction which will be more fully disclosed in the following description and in the drawings wherein like parts have been similarly designated and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of apparatus built according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken approximately along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2; v

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view on a larger scale, showing certain details of construction;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan view looking in the direction of arrow 5 'of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view along line 66 of Figure 5. and drawn to a larger scale;

Figures 7 and 8 are fragmentary views on lines 'l! and 8-8 respectively, of Figure 1, and drawn on a larger scale; and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view showing certain details.

In order to disclose an operable reduction to practice of the present inventive concept, the

-detail. Changes may occur to those skilledin the art and therefore the present example is to be considered as typical and no limitation to this inventionis intended to be expressed or implied by the instant illustration. The scope of the v invention is, in reality, measured by the appendapparatus herein illustrated will be described in 55 ed claims. In the drawings, reference character l5 denotes an undercut channel track, preferably, but not necessarily, made endless as in Figure 1. The track may be suitably supported by structure It and adjacent the track are spaced sprayers I1 and I8. Each sprayer can be conveniently made up' of pipe and fittings, assembled in the form of a rectangular loop vertically positioned around the track. The upstanding sections of the pipe are provided with spray apertures facing oppositely ,toward the center of the respective assemblies, to project cleaning and washing fluid onto opposite sides of a blind I9 that issuspended in a frame 20 that is hung on rollers 2| in the undercut channel of said track I5.

The frame 20 and its suspended blind l9 can be moved along the track l5 and through the sprayers I1 and I 8, by means of a cord 22 removably attached thereto, andreeved over pulleys 23.

Between the sprayers I1 and I8, is positioned a mechanical scrubber that comprises two oppositely positioned brushes 24, that are mounted for reciprocation in contact with opposite surfaces of the blind, on crankshafts 2,5 and 26, the latter one of which is rotated by any suitable driver, such as a motor 21.

A motor 28 is in driving connection with a pump 29 that is connected to deliver a forceful spray of fluid cleaning medium from a tank 30, through a pipe line 3| to sprayer H, from which it is projected, and another motor 32, drives another pump 33 to deliver a flow of rinsing fluid from a tank 34 through a conduit. 35 for projection from the sprayer l8. An operator can selectively operate the respective motors by means of a two-way switch 36. A three-way valve 31 is connected to receive drainage from the sprayers and is selectively operable by means of a lever 38 to return drainage fluid to either the tank 30 or the tank 34, as desired. 7

Spray apertures 39 are provided in sprayer l8 and other dischargeapertures are provided in sprayer II, that are partially shielded by spreaders 40 to efiect a fan-like discharge, as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8.

In Figures 4, 5 and 6, certain optional details are illustrated wherein reference character ll denotes the individual reversible slats in the blind l9, that are reversible by the usual means inclusive of a cord 42 and a pulley operated thereby at 43. A bracket 44 is mounted on the side member 45 of the frame 20 and supportsa plurality of pulleys or rollers 46 over which the cord 42 is reeved, and a bracket 41 on angle cross members 48 of the frame 20, journals a twogroove pulley 49 at 50.

Opposite ends of the cord 42 are temporarily attached to the pulley 49 as by passing them through openings to be releasably gripped by a spring clamp 52 operable by a push-button 53. The excess length of the'cord 42 may be pushed into the hollow interior 54 of the pulley 49, so that no slack exists in the cord between the pulley 43 on the blind and the operating pulley 49 on the frame.

The operating pulley 49 carries a pinion or small gear 55 that is engageable with a transversely retractable rack 56 that is slidably supported on the track |5 by slides 51 in guides 58. The position of the rack may be controlled by an operator from his station at 60, by means of a hand wheel 6| on a shaft 62 journalled in bearings 63 along the track, to turn a worm gear 64 journalled at 65 to turn a screw 66 that is in threaded engagement with the rack 56, whereby it is laterally moved.

The cord 22 that is used for moving the frame and blind along the track, is attachable to the frame by a hook 61 engageable in a plate 68. Bumpers 69 may be provided on both sides of each frame 20 so that when, as preferred, a plurality of frames are used, they will contact each other by means of said bumpers to transmit movement from one to the next along the track I5. A heated drying station preferably is positioned along the track at 10, and may be heated to a super-atmospheric temperature by well known means such as team pipes, electric heaters or the like.

Operation In use, a soiled Venetian blind, is suspended in the frame 20, which is movable along the track l5 and which is guided along its lower edge by a guide rail 20a. Pump 29 is started to project fan-like sprays of cleaning fluid from tank 36 simultaneously onto both sides of the blind as it is moved through sprayer H. The brushing and scrubbing mechanism is driven to effect a scrubbing action on the blind, after it is thoroughly sprayed with the cleaning medium, to further loosen the dirt on the blind. During the first spraying step, the three-way valve 3'! is set to return most of the sprayed fluid to the tank 30 from which it came, screens 80 being removably set up to prevent unnecessary dissipation of the fluid, which runs to the center of the enclosed area and down through a drain 8| to the valve.

Next, the operator starts the second pump 33 to project sprays of rinse water or other washing fluid from sprayer l8 onto the scrubbed surfaces of the blind as it progresses along the track l5. The fluid cleaning and/or washing mediums may be used at atmospheric or at super-atmospheric temperatures, and the second sprayed fluid may also be returned to its storage tank 34 for reuse, or sent to waste as desired, depending upon its value. Elongated apertures 39a, Figure 9, may advantageously be provided in either sprayer to effect a knife-like jet projection of cleaning or rinsing fluid, particularly the latter.

Since the slats 4| of the blind overlap, they must be reversed and the same operations repeated, to clean all parts of their surfaces. This reversing of the slats can be done by hand but, preferably it is accomplished by the mechanism illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 and hereinabove described. The rack 56 is positioned as desired along the track l5 to engage the gear to rotate the pulley 49 and thereby operate the reversing mechanism of the blind at a predetermined position along the track, as suggested at 56, Figure 2.

A complete second station for effecting the washing of a reversed blind can be set up beyond the rack 56 to repeat the washing process on the reversed slats, or the blind can be reversed by moving it past the rack and then retracting the rack out of alinement with the gear 55, whereupon the blind can be moved back along the track into the first cleaning station 90, with its slats reversed, for a repetition of the said cleaning steps.

After a blind is cleaned, reversed and flnally finished, its frame is unhooked from cord 22 and another frame, with another blind, is hooked to the cord and the above set forth method of cleaning is repeated. As the frames 20 move along the track, they contact each other by bumpers 69 and are thus moved along the track and through the drying station 19. The drying station may be omitted if preferred, as the blinds will air-dry under some conditions, especially if heated rinse water is used.

A plurality of racks 56 can be placed along the track l5 to effect reversal of the slats 4| as desired, one complete reversal mechanism having been disclosed,- it is considered sufficient for patent purposes. Naturally, the size of any installation will depend upon local conditions, and by reciprocating a blind through only one cleaning station, less space will be required.

Since the automatic reversing mechanism is an optional feature of the apparatus, it has not been illustrated in detail in Figures 1 and 2, but a location for the reversing rack 56 is suggested in Figure 2, which may or may not be associated with the retracting mechanism above set forth. If a second washing station is used along the track beyond the rack, the rack need not be retracted nor the blind reciprocated back through the first washing stage.

The combined effects of suspending a blind, the forceful impingement of the sprays on the blind, the mechanical scrubbing action, the reversal of the slats either automatically or by hand, and the movement of the blind along the track, are well adapted to accomplish the stated objectives.

.While this specification discloses preferred means for reducing the present invention to practice and a preferred embodiment of the invention, changes may occur to those skilled in the art and may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. Apparatus for washing Venetian blinds or the like, comprising a track, a frame of an internal size and configuration to receive such a blind, for suspending a blind on the track for movement therealong, and blind-sprayers at opposite sides of the track.

2. In apparatus for washing Venetian blinds having slat-reversing means, a track, means fcr suspending a blind on the track for movement therealong, and mechanism selectively engageable with said slat-reversing means and adapted to automatically operate the sameby movement of the blind along the track.

3. In apparatus for washing Venetian blinds having slat-reversing means, a track, means for suspending a blind on the track for movement therealong, and mechanism positioned and adapted to automatically operate the slat-reversing means by movement of the blind along said track.

4. Apparatus for washing Venetian blinds or the like, comprising conveyor means, a hollow frame of an internal size and shape to receive such a blind, on the conveyor for movement thereby, means associated with the conveyor means for forcibly projecting cleansing fluid upon a blind suspended in said frame, and a mechani! cally operated reciprocating scrubber positioned adjacent the conveying means and arranged and adapted to act upon a blind suspended in the frame.

5. Apparatus for washing Venetian blinds or the like having reversible slats, comprising conveyor means, a hollow frame of an internal size and shape to receive such a blind, on the conveyor for movement thereby, means associated with the conveyor means for forcibly projecting cleansing fluid upon a blind suspended in said frame, a mechanically operated reciprocating scrubber positioned adjacent the conveying means and arranged and adapted to act upon a blind suspended in the frame, slat-reversing means movable along the conveyor with the frame, and means positioned along the path of movement of the frame for engaging and operating said slat-reversing means by movement of the frame along the conveyor. 

